U.S. patent application number 14/189419 was filed with the patent office on 2015-07-23 for musical drum.
This patent application is currently assigned to K.H.S. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT CO., LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is K.H.S. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Yi Hsien LIN.
Application Number | 20150206519 14/189419 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 53545333 |
Filed Date | 2015-07-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150206519 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
LIN; Yi Hsien |
July 23, 2015 |
MUSICAL DRUM
Abstract
A musical drum includes a hollow cylindrical shell; a drumhead
tightly stretched over and sealing each end of the shell, so as to
form a resonance chamber between the drumheads and the shell; and
two counterhoops fixed around the two drumheads to hold them on the
shell. The shell is provided on at least one end with a flat
contact surface for horizontally contacting with the drumhead. The
flat contact surface has a radially outer edge forming a curved
surface downward extended to an outer circumferential surface of
the shell, and a radially inner edge forming a bevel downward
extended to an inner circumferential surface of the shell. With the
flat contact surface and the curved surface, the drumheads can be
more tightly attached to the shell, allowing the vibration of the
drumheads to be efficiently transmitted to the shell to produce
more saturated resonant frequency and good sound
sustainability.
Inventors: |
LIN; Yi Hsien; (Taoyuan
County, TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
K.H.S. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT CO., LTD. |
New Taipei City |
|
TW |
|
|
Assignee: |
K.H.S. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT CO.,
LTD.
New Taipei City
TW
|
Family ID: |
53545333 |
Appl. No.: |
14/189419 |
Filed: |
February 25, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
84/411R |
Current CPC
Class: |
G10D 13/02 20130101;
G10D 13/22 20200201; G10D 13/20 20200201 |
International
Class: |
G10D 13/02 20060101
G10D013/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 17, 2014 |
TW |
10321008 |
Claims
1. A musical drum comprising a hollow cylindrical shell, two
drumheads separately stretched over an upper and a lower end of the
shell to thereby form a resonance chamber between the drumheads and
the shell, and two counterhoops separately externally fixed around
the two drumheads to hold the drumheads immovable on the shell;
being characterized in that the shell is provided on along at least
one of the upper and lower ends with a flat contact surface, with
which a corresponding one of the drumheads horizontally
contacts.
2. The musical drum as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flat contact
surface has a radially outer edge formed into a curved surface to
downward extend to an outer circumferential surface of the
shell.
3. The musical drum as claimed in claim 2, wherein the curved
surface consists of two parts, which respectively have a first
curvature and a second curvature.
4. The musical drum as claimed in claim 2, wherein the flat contact
surface has a radially inner edge formed into a bevel to downward
extend to an inner circumferential surface of the shell.
5. The musical drum as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shell is
made of a multilayer sheet material including a first sheet
material, a second sheet material and a third sheet material
sandwiched between the first and the second sheet material, and the
first, second and third sheet materials being pressed together.
6. The musical drum as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first and
the second sheet material are made of the same material, and the
third sheet material is made of a material different from that of
the first and the second sheet material.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a percussion instrument of
drum, and more particularly to a musical drum having a flat contact
surface provided on each end of a shell thereof, so that two
drumheads of the musical drum can be more tightly stretched over
the two ends of the shell to seal them.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Various types of musical drums are different in pitches
mainly because the specifications of their shells are different.
Either the circumferential length or the vertical height of the
shell will have influence on the drum's pitch. Generally speaking,
drums having the same diameter may be a high-pitched drum, a
middle-pitched drum or a low-pitched drum, depending on their shell
height. The high-pitched drum usually has a smaller height, and the
low-pitched drum usually has a larger height. Therefore, a drummer
would normally have several drums of different specifications for
playing in a musical performance to create sound effect of
different pitches.
[0003] A common percussion drum mainly includes a hollow
cylindrical shell having upper and lower open ends, over each of
which a drumhead is covered, and two counterhoops are used to frame
and tightly fix the drumheads to the two open ends of the shell.
The two counterhoops are then locked together to form the fastening
structure of the whole percussion drum. As shown in FIG. 1, a
conventional drum shell 10 is formed on along each of its two open
ends 11 with a chamfer structure 12, which has a somewhat sharp top
edge, and a drumhead 13 is stretched over the open end 11 with its
outer peripheral portion in line contact with the sharp top edge of
the chamfer structure 12.
[0004] However, the drum with the drumheads 13 in line contact with
the shell 10 along the sharp top edges of the chamfer structures 12
has relative poor sealing effect between the drumheads and the
shell to thereby cause the problem of sound leakage. Although some
advanced drums have already adopted the 1/9 chamfer to produce
better sound, the problem of sound leakage still exists in
practical use of these advanced drums.
[0005] In view that the conventional percussion instrument of drum
has the problem of sound leakage due to insufficient tight contact
between the drumheads and the shell, it is desirable to develop an
improved musical drum that enhances the tight contact between the
drumheads and the shell to overcome the problem in the prior art
drums.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] A primary object of the present invention is to provide a
musical drum that is formed on along each end of a shell thereof
with a flat contact surface, and the flat contact surface has a
radially outer edge forming a curved surface downward extended to
an outer circumferential surface of the shell, so that the
drumheads can be more tightly attached to the shell, allowing the
vibration of the drumheads to be more efficiently transmitted to
the shell to produce more saturated resonant frequency and good
sound sustainability.
[0007] To achieve the above and other objects, the musical drum
according to the present invention includes a shell, two drumheads
and two counterhoops. The shell is a hollow cylinder having an
upper and a lower open end. The drumheads are separately stretched
over the two open ends of the shell, so that a resonance chamber is
enclosed in the shell and the drumheads. The counterhoops are
externally fixed around the two drumheads to hold them immovable on
the shell.
[0008] The present invention is characterized in that the shell is
provided on at least one of its two ends with a flat contact
surface for horizontally contacting with the drumhead. The flat
contact surface has a radially outer edge forming a curved surface
downward extended to an outer circumferential surface of the shell,
and a radially inner edge forming a bevel downward extended to an
inner circumferential surface of the shell. And, the curved surface
includes two parts, which respectively have a first and a second
curvature, so that the drumhead can be more tightly and stably
attached to the curved surface.
[0009] In an operable embodiment, the shell is made of a multilayer
sheet material, which includes a first sheet material, a second
sheet material and a third sheet material sandwiched between the
first and the second sheet material, and the first, second and
third sheet materials are pressed together. In an operable
embodiment, the first and the second sheet material are made of the
same material, and the third sheet material is made of a material
different from that of the first and the second sheet material. By
changing the material of the shell, the timbre of the musical drum
can be changed.
[0010] The present invention has the advantage that the drumheads
of the musical drum are in close and tight contact with the flat
contact surfaces and the curved surfaces at the radially outer edge
of the flat contact surfaces to avoid the problem of sound leakage
as found in the conventional musical drums. With these
arrangements, the vibration of the drumheads can be more
efficiently transmitted to the shell to produce more saturated
resonant frequency and good sound sustainability.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] The structure and the technical means adopted by the present
invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best
understood by referring to the following detailed description of
the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings,
wherein
[0012] FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a conventional
musical drum;
[0013] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a musical drum according to
the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of FIG. 2;
[0015] FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing an end of a
shell of the musical drum according to a first embodiment of the
present invention;
[0016] FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing an end of a
shell of the musical drum according to a second embodiment of the
present invention;
[0017] FIGS. 6A and 6B show that the end of the shell of the
musical drum of the present invention includes a bevel that can be
designed to have different bevel angles;
[0018] FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of the musical drum
according to the present invention;
[0019] FIGS. 8A and 8B are two data graphs comparing the musical
drum of the present invention and the conventional musical drum in
loudness;
[0020] FIG. 9 shows two data graphs that compare the musical drum
of the present invention and the conventional musical drum in sound
sustainability; and
[0021] FIG. 10 shows two data graphs that compare the musical drum
of the present invention and the conventional musical drum in
saturation of sound.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0022] The present invention will now be described with some
preferred embodiments thereof and with reference to the
accompanying drawings. For the purpose of easy to understand,
elements that are the same in the preferred embodiments are denoted
by the same reference numerals.
[0023] Please refer to FIGS. 2 and 3 that are assembled and
exploded perspective views, respectively, of a musical drum 20
according to the present invention. As shown, the musical drum 20
includes a shell 21, two drumheads 22, two counterhoops 23, and a
set of tuning members 24. The shell 21 is a hollow cylinder having
an upper and a lower end respectively define an opening 211 (see
FIG. 4). The two drumheads 22 are separately stretched over the
upper and lower ends to tightly seal the openings 211 of the shell
21, so that the drumheads 22 and the shell 21 together enclose a
resonance chamber 25 therein. The two counterhoops 23 are
separately externally fixed around the two drumheads 22 to hold the
drumheads 22 immovable on the shell 21. And, the two counterhoops
23 are locked to each other via the set of tuning members 24.
[0024] Please refer to FIG. 4. The upper end of the shell 21 is
formed into a flat contact surface 212, with which an upper one of
the drumheads 22 horizontally contacts. A radially outer edge of
the flat contact surface 212 forms a curved surface 213 downward
extended to an outer circumferential surface 214 of the shell 21.
The curved surface 213 consists of two parts, which respectively
have a first curvature 213a and a second curvature 213b. This
design enables the drumhead 22 to be closely, tightly and stably
attached to the curved surface 213 without forming any angle and
can therefore avoid the occurrence of sound leakage. And, a
radially inner edge of the flat contact surface 212 forms a bevel
downward extended to an inner circumferential surface 216 of the
shell 21.
[0025] Since the lower end of the shell 21 has the same structural
design as that of the upper end, it is not described in detail
herein. In the embodiment as shown in FIG. 4, the shell 21 is made
of a single-layer sheet material, which is previously cut to a
fixed size according to the circumferential length of the musical
drum 20 and is then properly rolled to form the hollow
cylinder.
[0026] Please refer to FIG. 5. According to another embodiment of
the present invention, the shell 21 can be otherwise made of a
multilayer sheet material, which is formed by tightly pressing a
first sheet material 217, a second sheet material 218, and a third
sheet material 219 together, such that the third sheet material 219
is sandwiched between the first and the second sheet material 217,
218. In the illustrated embodiment, the first and the second sheet
material 217, 218 are made of the same material while the third
sheet material 219 is made of a material different from that of the
fist and the second sheet material 217, 218. By changing the types
of the sheet materials of the shell 21, it is able to change the
timbre of the whole musical drum 20.
[0027] Please refer to FIGS. 6A and 6B. The bevels 215 formed on
the shell 21 can have a bevel angle of 45.degree. or 60.degree.,
depending on the required specifications. However, it is understood
the above-mentioned bevel angles are only illustrative and not
intended to limit the actual bevel angle of the bevel 215. One of
ordinary skill in the art can also use other bevel angles according
to actual need in design.
[0028] FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of the musical drum
20 of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 7 along with the
conventional musical drum shown in FIG. 1. As can be clearly seen
in FIG. 1, with the conventional musical drum, the drumhead 13 and
the shell 10 are in line contact with each other along the sharp
top edge of the chamfer structure 12 around the end of the shell
10. However, as can be seen in FIG. 7, with the musical drum 20 of
the present invention, the drumhead 22 and the shell 21 are in
surface contact with each other along the flat contact surface 212
around the end of the shell 21. Therefore, the contact area between
the shell 21 and the drumhead 22 is largely increased compared to
the conventional musical drum.
[0029] The tone quality of the musical drum 20 of the present
invention and of the conventional musical drum are tested in three
different methods and the results in each test are compared. Please
refer to FIGS. 8A and 8B. FIG. 8A is a sound wave graph for the
sound produced by the musical drum 20 that has a shell 21 with a
flat contact surface 212 formed on along its end; and FIG. 8B is a
sound wave graph for the sound produced by the conventional musical
drum that has a chamfer structure 12 formed on along its end. By
comparing the two sound wave graphs, it is found the musical drum
20 of the present invention has sound wave amplitude obviously
higher than that of the conventional musical drum. This proves
that, with the structure of the musical drum 20 of the present
invention, the drumhead 22 is better supported on the shell 21 to
create a well sealed resonance chamber 25.
[0030] Please refer to FIG. 9, an upper part of which shows the
sound wave graph for the sound produced by the musical drum 20 of
the present invention, and a lower part of which shows the sound
wave graph for the sound produced by the conventional musical drum
of FIG. 1. As shown, the musical drum 20 obviously has longer sound
wavelength and higher amplitude compared to the conventional
musical drum. Therefore, it would not be difficult to find the
musical drum 20 has improved sound sustainability.
[0031] When striking a drum, a relative high tone is produced. This
high tone is then gradually lowered with time. Please refer to FIG.
10, an upper part of which is a graph analyzing the tone of the
sound produced by striking the musical drum 20, and a lower part of
which is a graph analyzing the tone of the sound produced by the
conventional musical drum. By comparing the two graphs, it can be
found that the amplitude of the musical drum 20 is gradually
lowered in a stable curve while the amplitude of the conventional
musical drum is lowered in a sawtooth-like curve. Therefore, it can
be easily found the musical drum 20 of the present invention has
improved saturation of sound.
[0032] In summary, in the present invention, by providing the flat
contact surface 212 and the two-curvature curved surface 213, the
drumhead 22 can have large contact area with the shell 21 and be
more tightly attached to the shell 21 to thereby overcome the
problem of sound leakage as found in the conventional musical drum
that has a chamfer structure presenting a sharp top edge. With the
design of the present invention, the vibration of the drumhead 22
of the musical drum 20 can be more efficiently transmitted to the
shell 21 to make the resonant frequency have increased saturation
and smoothness and to increase the sound sustainability.
[0033] The present invention has been described with some preferred
embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and
modifications in the described embodiments can be carried out
without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention
that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.
* * * * *